“Once Miiverse Hits 3DS, It Will Be Huge” Says Nintendo President Iwata

We recently saw Nintendo president, Satoru Iwata, talk numbers in a recent Nikkei interview. As part of the same interview, Iwata also talked about the Wii U and Nintendo’s Miiverse social network, along with its differences compared to other media networks such as Facebook and Twitter.

Nintendo are always looking to spread gaming beyond just the core enthusiast audience, and Iwata believes the Wii U has the potential to do that. Having various non-gaming features such as Youtube, karaoke and more, will have people that aren’t necessarily gamers at least trying out the Wii U GamePad, Iwata feels.

The second part of expanding the audience lies within the Miiverse, Nintendo’s new social network community that’s available on the Wii U and is headed to the Nintendo 3DS in the future as well. Miiverse allows Wii U owners to share messages, screenshots, drawings, tips and more with each other. Wii U games each have their own communities for this purpose.

Iwata notes: “I noticed that there’s been lesser Nintendo talk going on in the Twitterverse. Then, I realized that those who always spoke highly of Nintendo were happily doing the same in Miiverse. When I checked the Miiverse, it was full of comments on people’s accomplishments in [New Super Mario Bros. U] and discussing the game itself.”

“When we first thought of Miiverse, we were told that it would be a bad idea after considering the likes of social networks such as Facebook and Twitter,” Iwata shares. “After doing some more brainstorming, we decided to stick to the idea we wanted to see. The results ended up being something many people enjoy today.”

He continues: “The primary use of Twitter and Facebook is not gaming, but a means of communication. Although I don’t use either of them, if I did, I imagine I’d use it to talk about my outings and vacations to people who aren’t exactly video game enthusiasts. I don’t think my former classmates would care to hear about my new Mario Kart record and so on.”

To put it in a nutshell, Nintendo believe that Miiverse isn’t about sharing how much time one has spent on a game, but more about what they did during that time spent.

“This is something I’ve talked about for many years with Mr. Miyamoto,” says Iwata. “Miyamoto loves making games that allow players to create and share experiences. We believe that it’s one of the main reasons behind the Mario series and Animal Crossing’s success. It was having those thoughts and feelings which eventually led to the creation of the Miiverse. Rather than social networking, we consider it an ‘experience sharing network’.”

In order to fully expand Miiverse to a wider audience, Nintendo will also be bringing the network to the Nintendo 3DS and eventually to PCs and smartphones as well, so you can check it anywhere you are.

Iwata envisions: “Once the Miiverse hits the 3DS, it will be huge. Just imagine the possibilities of playing Animal Crossing: New Leaf while sharing your experiences on the Miiverse. Now that’s something!”

As previously reported, Animal Crossing: New Leaf has been setting Japanese sales charts on fire, and is the best-selling Nintendo 3DS game in that territory to date. One can imagine how Miiverse integration will further foster communication between the game’s players and help spread word of mouth.

Yeah. Miiverse is really going to help the AC turnip economy to be more accessible.

XypherCode

A system seller right there :)

Elvick

Nice to have options.

Shadowman

I seriously can’t wait for the Miiverse to hit our 3DS.^^

http://www.fogalchemist.com/ caleb1993

Same here. It sounds very intriguing and I’m excited to have it coming to the handheld.

Göran Isacson

Speaking as someone who is naturally resistant against social media I’m not exactly all ablaze over this… but I can see where he is coming from. It’s a place to talk about all kinds of video games with an audience that is more or less guaranteed to be interested in the same things you are- video games and ones achievements in those. Could be a pretty darn nifty thing we’ve got on our hands here.

John Diamond

as long as they get enough mods to cover the 3ds. I know of a lot of douchebags who’ll draw in genitalia and give out spoilers for TEH LOLZ

Göran Isacson

Ah yes, moderators. Perhaps that is why they don’t just let people go on twitter, they want a system they can control. Cursewords and genitalia I can see them controlling, but spoilers on the other hand… is there a force on the internet that can hold those back?

p.s. Don’t get me wrong actually I like the guy, but certainly he will be the first one to show his draws on the 3DS miiverse.

malek86

I hope they make it undependant from games, or it will be problematic. Having to leave the game would make it a lot less useful, it needs to be available on pause. Also hopefully the Miiverse on 3DS will also add the ability to take and share screenshots, like on the Wii U.

That said, I have to wonder if it would be effective in the west too. Lately, many of the things Nintendo is doing, seem to be geared only toward the japanese market… I understand they have other divisions for Europe and America, but still, isn’t the head company supposed to think about them too?

Locklear93

It’s funny. I suspect I’m in the minority, but very first thing I thought after finishing the Wii U’s basic setup was, “How can I opt out of this stupid plaza and social crap?”

http://www.siliconera.com/ Ishaan

I’d suspect you are very much in the minority. Nearly all the impressions I’ve seen seem to have glowing praise for Miiverse.

malek86

It’s fun but not particularly gripping. Chances are that you won’t use it too much after the initial excitement. Overall I can’t see it helping sell systems in a terribly significant way.

Might be better for the 3DS though, in fact it seems more suited for it.

http://www.siliconera.com/ Ishaan

I don’t think Miiverse is going to make a huge difference right away, yeah. It’ll take a few years of dedication from Nintendo like Xbox Live did, and then become a reason for people to want to stick to their Nintendo accounts.

Captain_Jiruo

Win I first heard about Miiverse I thought I would think the same thing once I got a Wii U.
I don’t have a Wii U yet but after I hearing more about Miiverse I’m actually exited to try it out once I get a Wii U.

AuraGuyChris

Can’t wait to draw my Lucario art in my comments there.

Brimfyre

Miiverse has been possibly my favorite thing about the Wii U. I hope more games implement it the way NSMBU does though. Posting something after a level, such as comparing a level to past Mario games really lets you connect with like minded gamers. It’s really fantastic. And the drawings people make are amazing.

http://dannscheid.tumblr.com/ Daniel Scheid

I like being social about games, but not every game I like is multiplayer. In most cases the 3DS games that ARE online multiplayer happen to be games I’m not overly skilled at. Miiverse on WiiU has been very interesting for me and I personally can’t wait to see some new features on the 3DS that allow me to connect with more people and really share gaming experiences without having to head to head compete with them or even be playing at the same time.

MikelAL93

Seeing Miiverse on the 3DS is a great change. Especially since the Wii U made great use of it.

I also hope that user ID’s will make it for 3DS owners in the future so I can link mine with my Wii U ID.

EDIT: Forgot to ask this, but is Nintendo Network as good as PSN and XBL? I knew I would ask because I’ve heard that Nintendo Wifi connection is greatly inferior compared to PSN and XBL.

$29082171

I can only hope you can also change to the japanese miiverse and go into places like the nico community just like the the Wii-u from any region can.

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